The health benefits of washing one's hands in a medical center, in the food industry or after a visit to the bathroom are widely known. Those benefits include reducing the spread of bacteria and the germs which can lead to disease and illness, not to mention general cleanliness. To further bathroom cleanliness and hand hygiene manufacturers have developed hands-free faucets which automatically turn on water flow after sensing the presence of a user's hands under the faucet.
Following the wide acceptance of hands-free faucets manufacturers have also developed hands-free liquid soap dispensers. These have also proven useful and have been widely accepted. In the prior art hands-free liquid soap dispensers and hands-free water faucets were available as discrete units, each requiring its own battery power source as well as its own sink or counter space (which may not be available). Therefore, prior art hands-free liquid soap dispensers were typically placed on a nearby wall, counter, or sink. While functionally successful, such hands-free liquid soap dispensers each require their own power source and tend to be unsightly which can lead to a cluttered look. More importantly, wall-mounted hands-free liquid soap dispensers can lead to soap spills on the floor which can result in slips and falls.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a combination hands-free faucet that enables a user to use both soap and water to wash their hands. Preferably, such a faucet would not be separately mounted, would not present a cluttered look, would not require counter or sink space, and would not readily lead to slips and falls. Ideally such a combination faucet would be easy to use, readily installed, could be made at relatively low cost, and would assist maintaining cleanliness.